Home >  Sports >  Olympics

Sunday, February 03, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

When Teemu Selanne passed through Mellon Arena earlier this week, his face lit up when asked about the Olympic hockey tournament, particularly about the chances his humble homeland of 5.2 million people has of dancing with the gold medal.

	Dominik Hasek used his patented snow-angel and every other weapon to lead the Czechs to gold in 1998. (Associated Press)

"Oh, everybody in Finland knows how good we can be, but that doesn't mean anything to anybody else. Nobody will even mention that Finland is in the tournament. That's OK. We're underdogs, but we know we can beat anybody when we play our best. That's fine. Let's go from there."

And there you have, in one spicy quote, the essence of the Olympic tournament that begins this week in Salt Lake City.

It isn't Charles Barkley elbowing some malnourished point guard from Angola.

It's Finns talking trash.

It's a Canadian beer company running brash television ads touting their nation's imminent supremacy.

It's a confident group of Czechs projecting that the gold medal they won in Nagano symbolized little more than the start of a dynasty.

It's a resurgent pride in Russia to reclaim the tournament that country once dominated like a high school bully on an elementary school playground.

It's Sweden resurrecting images of Peter Forsberg's shootout goal in 1994 to remind its players that gold is attainable again.

And, of course, it's the United States' all-American expectation of winning every athletic competition in which it participates save those that involve soccer. If the pressure hasn't been piled on yet, just wait until the opening ceremonies, when it's being speculated that members of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team will light the torch.

Who will it be this time?

"No one knows," Selanne said. "The gap between the No. 1 and the No. 6 team is pretty much nothing. That's what makes it so great. Nobody's going to beat anybody up. The team that finds its heart at the right time is the one that will win."

Still, parity is only part of what makes this tournament the finest hockey anywhere, anytime.

As Mario Lemieux put it a few days ago, "The Olympics are really the showcase of what we're trying to show the people."

Start with that big ice.

The rinks will be 100 by 200 feet, significantly wider than the NHL's 85 by 200. There was a time when the NHL's rinks were just right. But as players have grown to the point where anyone less than 6 feet 2 is considered small, the boards haven't budged an inch, cramping the game's style and lending to the incredibly shrinking goal totals around the league.

There are detractors for the big sheet, notably Kings Coach Andy Murray, a veteran of the global game. He believes the greater the perimeter room, the farther one has to travel to get to the goal, thus reducing his scoring opportunities.

Most disagree, though, if only because that player's path has far less chance of being impeded on a larger rink. This is especially true in the neutral zone, where most of the NHL's defense-minded coaches love to trap their opponents. In Salt Lake City, scheme or no scheme, if Pavel Bure, Alexei Kovalev or Paul Kariya is left one-on-one with any defenseman between the blue lines, that defenseman has little or no chance of stopping him without some serious backpedaling.

Then there are the breathtaking displays of skill, almost on a shift-by-shift basis.

Even in games involving teams that employ conservative tactics -- the Czechs and Swedes are good bets this time -- the quality of plays executed or attempted is staggering to even the most jaded eye. Watch for the details, the saucer passes, the inside-out dekes, the vision of the game's playmakers and, of course, the top-shelf shooting that routinely goes on when nearly half the forwards on the rink at any one time are considered their NHL teams' best snipers.

Just check out Slovakia, which can be no higher than a seventh seed in this tournament, and that's only if it survives a preliminary round. Look at the list of big-time scorers on the front line: Peter Bondra, Zigmund Palffy, Pavol Demitra, Miroslav Satan, Jozef Stumpel, Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik. Not exactly pushover material.

Finally, there is the passion.

NHL players have been plenty reluctant to discuss the Olympics during the regular season for fear of appearing distracted, but don't take that to mean they don't care or are numb to the pressure. For the Europeans, the spotlight is heavy, all work and play shutting down when games involving the home side are televised. In Canada, it reaches the level of religion. And in the United States, with the home ice, the emotions in the tiny arenas where these Games will be played figure to be hypercharged.

Players who are teammates, even friends, will go at each other like rabid enemies. Ed Jovanovski will slam Markus Naslund. Keith Tkachuk will battle for space with Chris Pronger. The 10 Red Wings participating will be colliding almost every game. And don't think for a moment Darius Kasparaitis will hesitate to give his boss a facewash or two should Russia and Canada meet in the final.

Only six more days until the first puck drops.

Get a good look. You might never see better hockey.

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.